My Experience at Manila’s First Ever StickerCon

It’s only the third month of 2018, but it’s already been an eventful year for local artists. There have been several fairs, events, and conventions that create a platform for artists to promote and sell their creations – and StickerCon is one of them.

StickerCon MNL was the brainchild of Grace Marcellana, the awesome ‘chief fangirl’ behind Fandom Feels PH, which is a one-stop sticker brand for all fangirls and boys. If you belong to a fandom, Grace has a sticker for it. From Hamilton to RuPaul’s Drag Race, Fandom Feels has a sticker pack just for your obsession.

Grace’s stickers became a popular commodity among pop culture geeks and Fandom Feels PH became one of the most popular local stickers on the block.

On March 10 at the Bayanihan Center in Mandaluyong City, over 100 local sticker artists gathered to exhibit and sell their fun, quirky, and beautiful stickers. Collectors, journaling aficionados, and all sorts of art enthusiasts ran to the event early to get first dibs on their favorite artists’ work and some new-found loves.

As a mere art enthusiast, I did not have any expectations. Of course, I was looking forward to seeing some of my favorite artists whom I follow on Instagram. But I wasn’t really a sticker collector. I don’t have anything to slap them on, so I made a mental note to just look around and appreciate all this display of beautiful art.

Boy, I lied to myself that day. I must have spent around P700 worth of stickers and other merchandise. There were just too many unique designs — it was hard for me to pass up the opportunity. Most of my haul went to friends and colleagues. There were only a few I kept for myself and slapped on my drawing tablet.

The biggest surprise of the day is discovering all this local talent in one place. A lot of the art I bought were from artists I have never heard of before, and it was heartwarming and humbling to see them put on the widest smile whenever I buy their stuff.

Slap on Some Grrrl Power!

As March is International Women’s Month, I’m sharing a quick list of some of my favorite StickerCon MNL participants who made empowering, female-centric designs.

I am a huge fan of Cassy. I bought every single form of her art — her stickers, pins, patches, and temporary tattoos. Her illustrated characters epitomize the cute, sassy, and bad ass sides of a tough girl. One of her sticker packs was inspired by the everyday struggles of women not being able to walk the streets in peace due to catcallers.

Gracey is one of my new discoveries at StickerCon. Her style reflects the dark, beautifully tragic, and macabre side of women. She takes the female form and spins it into surreal, whimsical illustrations that depict a dark fantasy version of girls.

Betsy Cola’s art is a celebration of girls — girls who like girls, curvy girls, girls with stretch marks, girls with leg hair, extraterrestrial girls, and all other girls of shapes and sizes. Betsy felt the need to be more positive about her body image, so she made a set of body-positivity stickers.

I also want to give a special shoutout to Deafeye Studio, Liana Maris, and Danna Quimbo whose works feature a witty, dark, clever take on what it’s like to be a girl in this day and age.

Did anyone go to StickerCon last weekend? Which other local sticker artists do you follow? Let us know in the comments below.

About The Author

Jules' main passion lies in performing, whether it's singing, dancing, or acting. Her music preference ranges from obscure indie bands to addictive KPop acts. She balances being girly and geeky with her obsession with makeup and tabletop games. Wes Anderson is the only director that matters.